Asad and Anya – Part 2

Note: On Sep. 6, 2018, I started imagining a story because I couldn’t fall asleep. I wrote a post titled “Imagining Intriguing Things Makes Me Peaceful”. I am calling this story “Asad and Anya”; and, it is supposed to be an Arab Romance. Please forgive any errors because I am writing this in haste; and, I am posting the unedited version here for fun. I sleep well when I am making up romance stories in my mind while lying on the bed. That’s just one of my eccentricity! Here is Part 2. I will post Part 3 tomorrow.

The horse keeps running until they reach the 300th city; and, in the 300th city, there is a witch who rules certain areas of a jungle. The witch falls in love with the Knight; and, she tries to separate them from each other. “I am not going to let you go. Its just that one of you is going to die! Heehehehe”, she cries vehemently. Then she scans their frightened faces and points naughtily to the Knight, “You are coming with me!” Anya starts crying, “Don’t take Asad. Stop! Stop!” She runs towards the witch to hit her; but, the witch puts a spell on her. The spell causes Anya’s arms to be lifted in air and her head to fall on the side as her tongue falls out in an unattractive manner. Asad feels a bit scared; and, he tries to use his sword against her. But, his sword just falls to the ground due to the spell. The witch laughs maniacally and holds his arm; she starts to drag him away towards her hideout. Suddenly, from somewhere from the darker parts of the jungle, comes three arrows drenched in holy water. The arrows hit the target, the witch, in three places: the forehead, the throat, and the heart. The witch burns and burns. She screams for helps and clings to Asad as Asad’s shirt starts burning as well. The spell that was placed on Anya breaks; and, she comes to her senses. She rushes to Asad’s side; forcibly removes Asad from witch’s cruel grasp; and, helps him remove his shirt before its too late. Feeling exhausted due to her struggle and overwhelmed by Asad’s mature and well-built body, Anya almost faints.

Asad holds her in his arms to make sure her head does not hit the ground and whispers, “Are you okay Anya? Oh God!” Anya recovers slowly; and, stands up again while holding Asad’s arm. “Thank you Asad, its just that…” Anya smiles in a shy manner; she seems baffled and is unable to place her words properly. As they turn around, they are startled to find the shopkeeper standing behind them with Bow and Arrows. “Come to Think about it, you did leave a note for me,” The shopkeeper says to Anya. “Oh wow! You actually came looking for me. I cannot believe it,” Anya exclaims and runs towards him. Asad does not reach for his sword as he sees Anya’s confidence returning back to normal after seeing the shopkeeper. “For how long have you been tailing us? And, we never noticed you! How intriguing,” Asad slowly comments as he approaches this stranger. “I heard you were a legendary warrior of some sort; but I have never seen your skills before. Thanks for rescuing us,” Anya addresses the shopkeeper in a very polite manner. Asad lifts his eyebrows in surprise because he has not seen her talk like this before. “Oh! Rustom is a friend; but he is also a Royal. He is less Royal than me; but, he is still part of the Royal lineage. He is not directly related to me though although he is always around me!” Anya hastily explains to Asad. Rustom gives Anya lots of great food that he has brought from his Palace. He complains that the food that she has been eating is bad for her health; and, he is not happy about this. Anya thanks Rustom for his kindness.

They travel together until they reach Asad’s country. Rustom protests that he is not going to enter this country; but, Anya seems very delighted. “I, the Knight of the third state of the Kingdom of Maurit, permit Lady Anya of the Kingdom of Yamirates to enter the Kingdom of Maurit. I promise to escort and guard you during your stay in my country, my dear lady,” Asad shouts this quickly while ignoring Rustom’s comments and behaviour and hopes that Rustom stops complaining. Rustom yells, “I want to see how strong this man is. Is he really the fabled knight Asad? Really! And what was he doing in our country? Anya’s stories of her travel through the 300 countries only show that some people have left plenty of clues about both of you”. At this point, Rustom and Asad fight and fight with their swords and tongues until Anya loses her temper. “Go to hell! I don’t want any of you now,” Anya screams as she throws her shoes at them. “I just want my Royal food. And, I want my new dress, the one that Rustom brought”, she whines like a child. “Yeah! That was in the luggage I gave you. The dressmaker was right across the street so I got your dress from there,” Rustom smiles and replies in a gentle tone. “Oh shoot! You bought the dress from the dressmaker? Together, both of you have left a whole lot of clues behind!” Asad points angrily to Anya and Rustom with his sword. “Sorry! I was blinded by my affection and sense of duty towards this young lady,” Rustom looks Asad in his eyes in a challenging manner as he puts his sword in its sheath.”Who exactly are you to Anya,” Asad stares hard at him and his eyebrows fall and form a shadow on his eyes. “Why do you need to know our relationship…and pedigree?” Rustom complains in a tone that simmered with rage. “It’s up to you if you want to enter my country; or, you can just leave us alone,” Asad addresses Rustom in a much nicer manner as he gradually starts noticing Anya’s frustration.

After hearing this, Rustom bows to Anya, rides his horse, and disappears behind the trees. Anya holds Asad’s hand and says, “Asad! Please, I can’t go back; I don’t have my title or power anymore. But, please be gentle with this man!” Asad comments jokingly as he lifts Anya and places her in the carriage, “I will erase him if he follows us. But, do you love him?” “Yes, I love him. You are not going to kill him,” Anya blurts as she leaves the carriage and sits on the seat next to Asad. “What have I gotten myself into, lovely lady!” Asad exclaims as he holds the reigns of the horse. “Why don’t you show me how you drive this carriage?” she engages him again hoping that he will forget everything about Rustom. After traveling for some days in Asad’s country, they start feeling that they are being tailed again. “Is Rustom still behind us?” Asad looks back and asks Anya whose gaze is focused on the city ahead of them. “Where are we?” she asks him as they enter the city. Anya doesn’t want to bring Rustom up again because she did not like what happened.